Remember this guy? The American Idol Wannabe? The nice young man (named Desmond, or Nesbit, or something) who was selling magazine subscriptions door-to-door?
Remember how he sang for me and I video taped him and showed it to you guys? Remember how I gave him $75 for a subscription to Discover Magazine? I wrote all about it in a blog post entitled “I Can’t Afford to Answer the Door“.
I was thinking about him the other day and wondered whatever happened to him. Did he make it onto American Idol? Has he been staying off the streets? I hope he’s continuing to avoid his brother’s fate of getting shot down by gang members. Did he win that subscription selling contest based on points? Did my contribution of SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS (oh, did I mention that already) help him win?
I also began to wonder: Did he ever turn in my subscription order? Because oddly, I haven’t seen a single issue of Discover Magazine yet. And, you know, it’s been five months, so I’m beginning to get a little concerned.
So I dug out my receipt and called the company (Universal Subscription Agency, Inc.) at (757) 818-9497 in Chesapeake, Virginia, and would you believe no one answered the phone? I got two different recorded messages both times that I called asking me to leave a message.
So I Googled “Universal Subscription Agency, Inc.”
Unfortunately, they didn’t have a website, but they are mentioned a lot by others on the internet. In fact, they’re famous! See?
Rip-Off? Complaints? Scam? I’m sure there must be some misunderstanding, so I clicked on a few of these links, including one where a Former Employee Tells All. He talks about how Universal Subscription Agency, Inc. is a virtual cult and that they lure in, brainwash, and bully them into selling magazine subscriptions. How the sales people are just as much a victim as the customer and how Universal Subscription Agency, Inc. are just a bunch of highway robbers. It’s quite a story, really. You should read it. [dramatic pause] Seriously.
This can’t be true though, can it? I think I’ll just try calling them again later. By the way, did I mention that the name of this company is Universal Subscription Agency, Inc.? And that their phone number is (757) 818-9497? I’m sure there’s just a mix-up in the subscription department or something. I mean, my receipt even has an address and a FAX number, so it must be legit, right? RIGHT???
Because if this turns out to have been a rip-off (perish the thought), I might have to bad mouth them (Universal Subscription Agency, Inc) on my blog or something. I would have to keep saying their name (Universal Subscription Agency, Inc) over and over so that anybody else encountering these people (Universal Subscription Agency, Inc) will know what they’re in for and not fall for it the way I did. I might have to start up a website about them (Universal Subscription Agency, Inc) and all the other scams out there to help educate people so that they wouldn’t be able to do to you what they did to me.
But until then, I’ll just go on about my business and blog about puppies and rainbows.
And goats.
[UPDATE 4/14/2010]: According to comments on this post, the company name has changed to Unique Subscription, Inc.
Goat Thing of The Day
Faithful NGIP reader, Wayne (aka Architectcritic), sent in this photo from his trip to Kenya…
(from Wayne’s Flickr page)
hi!
i was approached by a girl claiming to be from the same agency and with a similar story ("You can make the check out to U.S.A. inc.," she so cleverly stated.), but thanks to posts like yours and others, I caught her around my neighborhood (as she was about to ring another doorbell) and asked for my check back as I had changed my mind.
Unique Subscription Agency has now changed their address to P.O. box 1060, kittredge CO and their new phone number is 303-674-8252.
thank you for this post!
Hi Char! Thank you so much for your comment and the updated phone number. And thank you for your vigilance!
Ugh, I don't even want to answer my door. I always tell people no anyways but then get scared that they will get mad and do something to my house.
I didn't even know people still went around door-to-door selling magazine subscriptions.
I had the same experience this evening. After she left I quickly signed the back of the receipt and made out the envelope. It says you can cancel with a full refund within 3 business days of purchase. This girl tried to get me to give her part of the total in cash. No go.
They changed the name to Unique Subscription Inc, with the number and address that Char posted. I was approached by a young guy, and subscribed to one because he was really nice. I called the number right away after seeing this blog post, and they seem a legitimate company. The lady answered the phone, explained to me how the program works for kids to get funds for scholarship, etc. And then she instructed me how to cancel if I wish to within the 3-day cancellation period.
I'll let you know if I get the magazine in a month. =)
Luna – I would love to hear your follow-up.
- Margaret
HELLO EVERYONE!
I WORK FOR UNIQUE SUBSCRIPTION AGENCY AND JUST WANTED TO LET YOU ALL KNOW THAT UNIVERSAL SUBSCRIPTION AGENCY IS A DIFFERENT COMPANY WITH A TOTALLY DIFFERENT TAX ID NUMBER AND ADDRESS. WE WERE NEVER ANOTHER COMPANY AND NEVER WILL BE. YES, THERE ARE COMPANIES THAT USE OUR INITIALS (USAINC.). PLEASE, MAKE SURE YOU GET ALL YOUR INFORMATION CORRECT BEFORE POSTING INFORMATION ABOUT DIFFERENT COMPANIES. THE YOUNG MAN THAT WAS IN THE FIRST BLOG HAS NEVER WORK FOR UNIQUE SUBSCRIPTION AGENCY, INC.
The people who run Unique Subscription Agency are the same ones who ran scams for United Subscription and OK Marketing? If you're different, why use the same corrupt clearing house owned by Cody Payne? Why be based out of Colorado? Its because you are the same. In Colorado its cheap and easy to set up front companies for clearing houses. Why do members of your crew have outstanding warrants? Are background checks run before signing on new recruits? Of course not. Unique Subscription Agency is SSDD. Only the name of the company has changed, which is a common practice in this business.
Unique Subscription Agency is now recruiting in Tulsa, OK and offering a $500 sign-on bonus. Phone numbers in their Ad says to call 720-236-9183 or 281-627-8857. They are based out of CO. The magazine crew boss is Larry McClelland and they use companies owned by Cody Payne as their clearinghouse. These are the same people who ran OK Marketing….same scams.
what happened since? i'm too eager since i wasted my money trying to help that guy to go to school..i'm scammed i feel! i dint try to check about this company before i signed my check, and when i did, i wrote back for canellation and i dont believe it will help much either. just 3 days since, let me see what happens..no one attends the call at the company number.
UNIQUE SUBSCRIPTION AGENCY HAS AND NEVER WILL BE UNIVERSAL SUBSCRIPTION AGENCY. CHECK YOUR RESOURCES!!!! I WORK FOR THIS COMPANY AND WE HAVE NEVER BEEN UNDER OR AFFILIATED WITH ANOTHER COMPANY OR NAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Unique Subscription Agency, Inc. is not the same company as United Subscription Agency, or Universal Subscription Agency, or OK Marketing. Many members of the agency may have been working under those companies at some point, but they left for Unique Subscription Agency for a reason. Larry McClellan (also known as Skyler) is trying to run this business different than all the others, to change the name of the game and prove that you can be honest with magazine sales and still be successful. Yes, there are bad agents, but they're trying to weed them out. Yes, he's using a clearing house under Cody Payne, but did you ever think that maybe those are the only clearing houses available or maybe Skyler cannot afford to go under a different one quite yet? Skyler is doing his best, using the lesser of the evils when it comes to the clearing house used.
I used to work for this company, and it is not a scam. The $500 sign-on bonus is real, I did get to travel the country and see a new side to the country. I made some great friends and will never forget the memories I made. (I left due to personal issues and things going on back home that I was needed for.) USA, Inc. is not a scam company, you will get your magazines if you order through them. It may take a while (the receipts say “allow up to 120 days for delivery” which is 4 months when you think about it.)